NEWS Tik Tok - WTF?

[ChuckMK23]

OK so WTF is the deal with Tik Tok? Watched the livestream of the CEO being slut shamed by congress. Are the treasure trove of MILF, cat, outdoor survivalist cooking and brick laying short videos that 20-somethings doom-scroll over really a threat to national security? Really?

Discuss.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

OK so WTF is the deal with Tik Tok? Watched the livestream of the CEO being slut shamed by congress. Are the treasure trove of MILF, cat, outdoor survivalist cooking and brick laying short videos that 20-somethings doom-scroll over really a threat to national security? Really?

Discuss.

Lots of info at your disposal sir.

Let Me Google That

For all those people that find it more convenient to bother you with their question than to google it for themselves.

letmegooglethat.com

 

[ChuckMK23]

Lots of info at your disposal sir.

Let Me Google That

For all those people that find it more convenient to bother you with their question than to google it for themselves.

letmegooglethat.com

Touche' - but I am genuinely interested in the views of users represented here on this forum, not writ-large....

 

[Brett327]

Touche' - but I am generally interested in the views of users represented here on this forum, not writ-large....

I don’t use the platform, but the concern is user data going to China/the app being potentially used for nefarious CCP purposes. Given all the other potential vulnerabilities that are out there in various forms on SM, I think the focus/histrionics over TikTok is a bit overblown. That train left the station long ago.

 

[Whiskeyrice]

If it was US based then it would be a collective congressional shoulder shrug. Large pools of data unmonitored by the US on US personnel? Scary thought for some I guess.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

All I hear from my kids is all the people doing dumb stuff on it, I don't have it, don't plan to.

 

[johnpauljones1776]

I’ve heard the feed in China is different than it is here. Kids in china not only have a time limit on their devices there but are shown more “educational” and posts promoting positive habits while here in the US kids are shown endless nonsense some posts that could be considered dangerous. I.e. the tik tok trends you hear about I’m the news every now and then

 

[sevenhelmet]

Meh. Something about algorithms and being a Chinese owned company. Not sure how that’s different from 99% of the rest of the tech we rely on, but I’ll leave that to others to discuss.

As a parent, some of the stories I’ve heard of what kids put out on US Tik-Tok are bone-chilling. What the government decides is up to them- my kids are not allowed to touch it.

If I wanted to bring down a country of smartphone addicts, a few tweaks to a proprietary algorithm nobody else really understands would be well worth the effort. Perhaps I’d also create a “blockchain ecosystem” and sell “crypto tokens” to fund my efforts. Just sayin’.

ETA: Both the previous and the incumbent POTUS are aligned on Tik-Tok. That doesn’t happen often, so it is a strong indicator of something. I bet there is more to this story that we aren’t hearing publicly.

 

[Griz882]

I have heard it referred to as “NSA On-the-Go.” Apparently the system doesn’t simply mine personal data, it runs it through the Tron games to spit out collective nodes of people that can be further used and abused in ways they accept and enjoy use and abuse. I imagine the real impact isn’t “privacy” or “personal data,” but collective data used as a weapon.

 

[Flash]

While it is the latest political thing for our politicians from what I've learned I would not use and advise my family and friends not to either, Griz basically hits the gist of the legitimate concerns with the program. Personal data/info/biometrics are getting more and more ingrained and integral in today's technology and life in general so it is probably like trying to hold back a tsunami at this point.

 

[Swanee]

The sketchy part is the key logger- they collect every key stroke you make on your phone, and it's definitely sent to the CCP one way or another.


Probably fine for Joe Schmoe, but if you're somebody that needs to be concerned about that you probably don't want it on your devices. However, if you're somebody who is concerned about that, you probably don't have much of an online profile to begin with so you probably don't have TikTok anyway.

 

[Random8145]

As a thing itself, I have it and browse it occasionally, there can be quite a lot of humorous content on it, the thing about it though is HOLY CRAP can it be addictive. It's like you get a quick "fix" with each funny video, but then you get the desire to have another quick fix, and you also are curious about what the next video contains, and the next, and the next, and the next....and you keep saying to yourself, "Just one more..." and you "just one more" two hours away. Did that once and even after the two hours, was difficult to stop, and I was itching for more constant fixes and having a bit of a withdrawal. It is a dangerous rabbit hole, so I stopped cold turkey and mostly stay away. There are threads on Reddit about people dealing with TikTok addiction. I am not a parent, but would definitely advice not let your kids anywhere near it for those reasons alone, let alone some of the content that's apparently on it.

 

[nittany03]

I have heard it referred to as “NSA On-the-Go.” Apparently the system doesn’t simply mine personal data, it runs it through the Tron games to spit out collective nodes of people that can be further used and abused in ways they accept and enjoy use and abuse. I imagine the real impact isn’t “privacy” or “personal data,” but collective data used as a weapon.

The sketchy part is the key logger- they collect every key stroke you make on your phone, and it's definitely sent to the CCP one way or another.

It's like you get a quick "fix" with each funny video, but then you get the desire to have another quick fix, and you also are curious about what the next video contains, and the next, and the next, and the next....and you keep saying to yourself, "Just one more..." and you "just one more" two hours away. Did that once and even after the two hours, was difficult to stop, and I was itching for more constant fixes and having a bit of a withdrawal. It is a dangerous rabbit hole, so I stopped cold turkey and mostly stay away.

And here we go. For all people like to scoff at social media, imagine all of this and then understand that the CCP (as reported in the open source) doesn't let independent tech companies be independent tech companies . . . you WILL share your data, right, Comrade?

Now imagine trying to keep that off the phones of not only our ISes or ITs, but all the other Sailors and Marines who don't know better. There's a lot on this thread that, as a techie, I facepalm at about "herp de derp algorithms" as if they're some black magic and so forth. And I'm not even in a cybersecurity-adjacent role. Some of y'all need to understand that technology underpins our entire society and actually try to understand it as opposed to just going "LOL Nurdz" like it's still 1998.

 

[sevenhelmet]

The sketchy part is the key logger- they collect every key stroke you make on your phone, and it's definitely sent to the CCP one way or another.


Probably fine for Joe Schmoe, but if you're somebody that needs to be concerned about that you probably don't want it on your devices. However, if you're somebody who is concerned about that, you probably don't have much of an online profile to begin with so you probably don't have TikTok anyway.

I disagree with your last point- it’s not “probably fine” for Joe Schmoe’s data from the USA to be sent to the CCP, even if Joe himself doesn’t have a care in the world about it. That’s a violation of his privacy, and who knows how it’ll get used? Or aggregated.

And here we go. For all people like to scoff at social media, imagine all of this and then understand that the CCP (as reported in the open source) doesn't let independent tech companies be independent tech companies . . . you WILL share your data, right, Comrade?

Now imagine trying to keep that off the phones of not only our ISes or ITs, but all the other Sailors and Marines who don't know better. There's a lot on this thread that, as a techie, I facepalm at about "herp de derp algorithms" as if they're some black magic and so forth. And I'm not even in a cybersecurity-adjacent role. Some of y'all need to understand that technology underpins our entire society and actually try to understand it as opposed to just going "LOL Nurdz" like it's still 1998.

Many algorithms ARE black magic to some degree. Not only are they often fiercely guarded trade secrets, but the software engineers themselves often don’t understand the connections being made “under the hood”. They just know they’re getting the results they want (more clicks, views, and a great deal of information collected the company can monetize). Those results come from cues that humans may not even notice. It’s an intelligence gatherer’s dream, and we would be crazy to think governments (including ours) aren’t taking advantage.

Of course I see the value and essential function that tech has in our civilization. However, I have had misgivings about social media for years. While I’m not totally free from it, I have a very limited presence there. If that makes me a “herp de derp” from 1998, then so be it. I see too many bad actors taking advantage of Joe Schmoe to willingly throw myself in.

 

[robav8r]

Check your personal/financial accounts often, change your passwords more often.